1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capacitive switch of an electric/electronic device, and more particularly, to a capacitive switch of an electric/electronic device which can easily remove a plurality of voids between a plurality of contacts and a plurality of capacitive sensors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electric/electronic devices are generally equipped with a controller which can control an electric/electronic device to perform an operation desired by a user. A controller of an electric/electronic device generally includes a manipulation unit which manipulates an operation of the electric/electronic device according to user manipulation, a display unit which displays information regarding an operating state of the electric/electronic device, and a control unit which controls the operation of the electric/electronic device.
The manipulation unit is used to manipulate the operation of the electric/electronic device or to modify a control algorithm of the controller. The manipulation unit may include a plurality of manipulation switches which can receive various signals from a user. The manipulation switches may include press switches, slide switches, rotation switches, and touch switches.
Touch switches determine whether they are touched by a user, and operate according to the result of the determination. Examples of the touch switches include capacitive switches. Capacitive switches detect a capacitance variation caused by the static electricity of an object, and operate based on the result of the detection. Capacitive switches may include a plurality of contacts which are formed of a dielectric material at the exterior of a controller of an electric/electronic device and a plurality of capacitive sensors which are respectively attached onto the rear surfaces of the contacts. When a contact is touched by a user, the capacitance of the contact varies due to the static electricity of the user, and a capacitive sensor corresponding to the contact detects the variation in the capacitance of the contact. In this manner, the controller may control the electric/electronic device based on the result of detection performed by the capacitive sensors.
However, in the case of conventional capacitive switches, voids may be formed when either contacts or capacitive sensors are not uniformly arranged. In this case, the capacitive switches may malfunction due to the voids. In other words, if the controller has an uneven surface or the capacitive sensors have different heights, the capacitive sensors may not be properly attached onto the rear surfaces of the contacts, thereby generating voids between the contacts and the capacitive sensors.
In order to address this, the arrangement of the capacitive sensors may be altered according to the locations of the contacts. In this case, however, it is difficult to assemble a capacitive switch, and the amount of time required to assemble a capacitive switch may increase. If the capacitive sensors are formed have different heights, it is difficult to standardize elements for various capacitive sensors.